Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1887-02-11

There is little to add by way of comment |
tu the account of the terrible railroad acct |
dent at White River Junction which is given |
with so much fulness i'm our columns today. |
After a long period of remarkable immuni- |
ty from serious accident to its passenger
trains the Central Vermont company is |
suddenly confronted in dead of winter with
one Of the most dreadful horrors in the his
tory of railroading. 1t is second only to
the Ashtabula horror, and furnishes a won
derfully close parallel to that great disaster.
Here as there was the plunge from a high
bridge the crash on the ice, the deadly
flames to finish the cruel work which the
wreck began. Here as there it is doubtful
whether the exact number who persisted
will ever be known. How closely this is
Appropriated will depend entirely on wheth
er all those on the train had friends suffi
ciently interested to trace them out and es-
tablish the fact that they were among its
passengers, for it is only natural that the
railroad company should not magnify the
number of victims beyond those of whose
identity actual proof is presented.
So far as can now be seen, the accident
was not due to any culpable negligence on
the part of the railroad company. All or
binary care seems to have been exercised,
and probably the track, the bridge, the
train and all its accessories were in such
condition as all railroad experts would have
pronounced safe. 1t is true that a rail
broke under the train which at one of the
In If a flo in, tba
terial and the way it was rolled but this
was not enough to make it break by the or
binary passage of train over it, and it
seems to be the well -founded opinion of ex-
perts that it was a broken axle on the rear
Pullman car which broke the rail and threw
this cars off the track and over the bridge
There was a sharp curve on a high embank
ment approaching the bridge, and this had
no guard rail but managers of railroads
like the Boston & Albany say that they
have discarded guard rails in such places as
more likely to do harm than good The
bridge was a wooden one of pattern such
would not be used in building anew in
these later days, but it was sound, strong,
and well looked after, and it had outside
the rails 10-inch guard timber bolted to
the ties after the modern approved fashion.
Whatever the other faults of the Central
Vermont management have been in recent
years, neglect of their own original road
bed from St Albans to Windsor has not
been one charged against them. The road
has "A continuous steel rail, and a wide road
bed with abundant ties and excellent bal
last. The complaint has been, indeed, that
the company has improved and perfected its
own property at the expense of its leased
lines, and it has been understood at home
and abroad that the Central Vermont main
line is one of the best appointed in the
country. 1t looks at present as though the
most serious question of proper care is as
to whether the engineer had slowed down
to as low speed as he ought before crossing
such bridge but he was evidently run
ming without steam or brakes, which is the
main point, and had cut his speed down
within the limit of 10 miles an hour allowed
10y the company and there was in reality
no more danger on this sharp curve than on
any similar one ON the road The fact is,
then, that the accident was one which or
binary human caution could not have fore
seen and prevented
But it will not answer TO let a statement
like this cover too much, If an axle wheel
or journal broke on the Pullman car, it was
because there was some fault in the material
or its manufacture which even the well
known thoroughness of the Pullman com
pany did not prevent or discover, and the
lesson taught is that still greater care must
be observed in the manufacture of cars and
their belongings, and of rails and roadbeds
Had the train come TO a full stop before
crossing this long bridge, the accident would
not have happened, and the teaching may
prove in the end to be that trains must
come to full stop and proceed with great
care over all points of peculiar danger
The most obvious teaching, however, i,
in the matter of heating and lighting rail
road cars. Had some system been in use
ON this occasion which dispensed with liv,
fires and inhammable oil in the cars tn,
horror and the loss of life would have beer
far less. Thrice this season, in rapid sue
cession, there have been terrible warming
ON this point and this last one ought 10 set
tie beyond any question that before anothe
season definite steps will have been takeI
10 Danish forever stoves and kerosene OF
from railway cars. Now, while the excite
ment is on, everything points to such con
summation, and the discussion ought not t,
be dropped until the reform is accomplish
eel. The railroad men themselves are strong
ly aroused. The statements made 10y Su
perintendent Mulligan of the Connection
River road at the commissioners hearing OF
Tuesday are significant. Experiments witt
steam for heating and electricity for light
ing are in progress ON the Boston & Alban,
road. The New York and Massachusetts
legislatures both have bills under consdera
ton 10 compel the removal of stoves ana,
kerosene from the cars, and in Boston on